Slow Saturday

I walked out of the house wondering what lay ahead. Warblers? Hawks? Anything different? At the path-turn I heard sound from up in the tree, crinkle sound. What kind of bird crinkles!!!??? A sparrow does if it's found cellophane, perfect for nesting. Waterproof nest. Sparrow and cellophane came down to the ground. Sparrow finally got this into a manageable wad and flew off to nest. Something told me this was going to be a goofy day.

More nesting project. This gutsy sparrow had the vine and tried to break it free by flying up into the air and pulling it. The vine never snapped free, but not for lack of effort.

Around the corner the robin was poking around and ended up jabbed into paper. Oops, not a worm.

More nesting materials. They're all doing it.

Work, then bathe........ papa gets clean, mama collects muck.

About the pond the dove was sunning itself. Starlings intruded on its privacy.

So pretty for spring, the white throated sparrow.

During the day I had seen a couple of warblers, no real photo opportunities. On the way out of the park I saw the palm warbler with a bug in its mouth, not a razor sharp picture, but something different.

Next posting will deal with nutrition.

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Here and there

The fun in birding is the constant change in bird population. The birds fly in,- eat, drink, rest- and depart, so no two days are alike. One day there can be thousands of hermit thrushes, the next day 25. I came in with a wish to watch a kinglet. The Point seemed like a good possible location. I never even had to walk that far. Ruby kinglet flew into my space and stayed a while, bug and bit-picking right in front of my face. Very hard to photograph, because this tiny jewel flits around. Fast! It was also eating bits of the buds.

Okay, so I overdid it a bit, but it's not often that one gets a cooperative kinglet.

Around the corner the male grackle was doing the mate-attraction dance. Funny!! All puffed and "sexy", strutting. The female could not have cared less, totally brushed him off.

I know, I know..... starlings. Brat birds, ....but they're very pretty brat birds. Clicky clicky in the grass.

And as for the grass, the flicker probes into the soil for grub and things. Flicker, grass beautiful.

The final bird really surprised me, the gorgeous redbelly woodpecker off the tree for a change. It flew up after a challenge from a dratted starling.

Sure, I like seeing the tiny warblers, any new park arrivals, but I'm just as happy seeing park regulars, the fascinating behavior.

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Dining on what????

Posting all this before breakfast. I still can't believe what I saw.
There are hermit thrushes all over the place. I'm beginning to think of them as Pop-Up-Hermits. They eat bugs, gnats, grub,... stuff the robins eat. This one was eating found bread !

The grackles think things through. I've seen this many times. Hard bread gets soaked to soften it up. Brilliant. The only thing is that they also try to soften up acorns.

This stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't make out what the robins had found. There was glistening paper. I could not tell if this was a chocolate bar with nuts, or some kind of lunch meat with bumps in it. Doesn't matter. What counts is that two robins attacked it and gobbled it all up with intensity. When it was totally finished they still searched the grass for one more delicious bit. They tore off chunks and ate it down. What in heaven's name have robins acquired a taste for????

My one pal said we'll know if it was chocolate with nuts when we meet a diabetic robin.

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Tender moment

This cardinal knows who has treats. Fast as could be a nut kernel was grabbed and then chewed into bits. Why? To share with the Mrs. Shooting position not ideal, but you can see what was happening. Love this!

Sweet love.

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Didja? Didja?

I don't usually get caught up in the "what didya see?" frenzy, but today I got snagged. Fortunately, I spent most of the time being guided by Martin who really knows a lot. We talked about past and present and that made the hiking more palatable. I don't like birding competition. I don't care what I see as long as I see something, and for me a worm is as good as an exotic bird. I'll blog the "proper" subjects.... important for today..... and get back to the sillies tomorrow. Today's new birds were the black and white warbler, the blue wing warbler and the savanah sparrow,.... that is, new for this migration.

Oh yes, mustn't omit this oddity, a partially albino house sparrow. This is the kind of subject I enjoy.

The first two savannah sparrows were at Sparrow Rock.

On the way out of the park I stopped at the Bowling Lawn. Two more savannah sparrows, one either a female, or an immature, or one that had been through a storm, -paler color, paler stripes, sort of ratty looking.

The blue winged warbler was up on the rock north of Tanner's Spring. It was high up in the trees, not really a photo situation.

Then I remembered that I had shot the same bird in 2008, much better situation. Everyone was running to see this warbler. I got caught up in the search. Should have waited for next time.

Nick Wagerik was on the path in Shakespeare Garden and pointed out a wasp that was skimming material off the wood that would be used in its nest. I forget what the stuff is called, something like celulite, but not celulite.

A real highlight, total smile time, memory from childhood, a jack-in-the-pulpit.

And finally, the kind of subject I adore, nest-collecting robin. Very serious business.

Next blogs will be back to the mundane, my choice,..... with special odd lots thrown in.

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